Murder, She Wrote

For the song, see Murder She Wrote (song).
Murder, She Wrote
GenreCrime drama
Detective fiction
Created by
Starring
Theme music composerJohn Addison
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
No. of seasons12
No. of episodes264 (+ 4 TV movies) (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producers
Running time48 minutes
Production companies
Original release
NetworkCBS[3]
ReleaseSeptember 30, 1984 (1984-09-30) –
May 19, 1996 (1996-05-19)
Related
Infobox instructions (only shown in preview)

Murder, She Wrote is an American crime drama television series, created by Peter S. Fischer, Richard Levinson and William Link, starring Angela Lansbury, and produced and distributed by Universal Television for the CBS network. The series focuses on the life of Jessica Fletcher, a mystery writer and amateur detective,[4][5] who becomes involved in solving murders that take place in the fictional town of Cabot Cove, Maine, across the United States, and abroad. The program ran for 12 seasons from September 30, 1984, to May 19, 1996, for a total of 264 episodes and included amongst its recurring cast Tom Bosley, William Windom and Ron Masak, as well as a vast array of guest cast members including Mickey Rooney, Michael Horton, Keith Michell, George Segal, Kevin McCarthy, Gene Barry, Martin Milner, Earl Holliman, Pat Morita, Tom Wopat, John Astin, Loretta Swit, John Saxon, Ruth Roman, Kathryn Grayson, Ken Howard, Bradford Dillman, Jean Peters, Neil Patrick Harris, Harvey Fierstein, Bill Maher, Cynthia Nixon, Bryan Cranston, and Julie Adams.

The series was a ratings hit during its broadcast, becoming a staple of CBS Sunday night TV schedule for around a decade, while achieving distinction as one of the most successful and longest-running television shows in history, averaging 25 million viewers per week in its prime.[6] In syndication, the series is still highly successful and popular throughout the world. For her role on the program, Lansbury was nominated for ten Golden Globes, winning four, along with nominations for 12 Emmy Awards, earning her the record for the most Golden Globe nominations and wins for Best Actress in a television drama series and the most Emmy nominations for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series. The series itself also received three Emmy nominations for Outstanding Drama Series, and six Golden Globe nominations in the same category, with two major wins.

After the series finished in 1996, four television films were released from 1997 to 2003.[7][8] Two point-and-click video games were released for PC: one in 2009,[9] and a sequel in 2012.[10] A spin-off book series continues publication as of 2024.

  1. ^ Silden, Isobel (August 17, 1989). "It's No Crime When Yesterday's Stars Get Into 'Murder'". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on March 5, 2016. Retrieved October 20, 2010.
  2. ^ Weinstein, Steve (May 21, 1994). "Television: After 10 years and more than 200 corpses, no one has been able to knock off 'Murder, She Wrote,' powered by you-know-who". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on March 6, 2016. Retrieved October 20, 2010.
  3. ^ Haithman, Diane (October 20, 1990). "TV: The grind of a weekly hour series is too much, but a half-hour show is something else". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on March 5, 2016. Retrieved October 20, 2010.
  4. ^ Harmetz, Aljean (October 27, 1985). "Angela Lansbury's unlikely sleuth has staying power". The New York Times. Archived from the original on October 1, 2013. Retrieved August 20, 2010.
  5. ^ Weinraub, Bernard (December 1, 1991). "TELEVISION; Angela Lansbury Has a Hit. She Wants Respect". The New York Times. Archived from the original on October 1, 2013. Retrieved August 20, 2010.
  6. ^ "TV Ratings Archive – 1988/1989". USA Today Weekly. September 25, 1988. Archived from the original on February 24, 2016. Retrieved February 16, 2016.
  7. ^ Blistein, Jon (October 11, 2022). "Angela Lansbury, Tony Winner and 'Murder, She Wrote' Star, Dead at 96". Rolling Stone. Retrieved March 3, 2023.
  8. ^ Palan, Michael (February 23, 2021). "The Best Episodes Of Murder, She Wrote". Looper. Retrieved March 3, 2023.
  9. ^ "E3 2009: Murder, She Wrote game coming to the PC" Archived July 19, 2020, at the Wayback Machine, news.bigdownload.com, June 8, 2009; retrieved January 14, 2010.
  10. ^ "First screenshots of Murder, She Wrote". Murdershewrotegame.com. November 17, 2011. Archived from the original on November 21, 2009. Retrieved May 14, 2012.